'Our toughest game of the season': Portsmouth boss wary of Hereford threat as Blues bid to avoid FA Cup upset

That’s the verdict of Danny Cowley as the Blues travel to Hereford for tonight’s FA Cup first-round encounter (7.55pm).

A promising start to the League One campaign has noticeably slowed, with two wins from Pompey’s last nine matches in all competitions.

Unquestionably impacted by a number of key performers sidelined by injury, particularly in the centre of midfield, they are now challenged to avoid becoming a cup upset.

Since elected to the Football League in 1920, the Blues have lost just once to non-league opposition – Aldershot in November 2014.

And Cowley is under no illusions of the threat tonight’s National League North opponents pose.

He told The News: ‘Genuinely, we are going into this match believing it’s our toughest game of the season.

‘We know we must have absolute focus to get the outcome that everyone associated with Pompey will want – and our previous experiences of inflicting cup upsets helps us.

‘Everyone talks about the FA Cup run at Lincoln where a National League side got to the quarter-finals, but at Concord Rangers we had a pretty good run as well.

‘It’s a brilliant competition. I can remember our players all excelled their level of performance, they were able to find a level beyond what they were capable of – and that's the inspiration the FA Cup can have.

‘We know we’ll see the very best version of Hereford and our challenge is to make sure we match them in terms of our work ethic and our attitude.

‘Not only that, but we must make sure that, going into the game, we have done all our preparation so we can set our players up to have success.

‘We understand these games, we know they will be very, very difficult, and there will be many challenges.

‘It won't be perfect, but we have to make sure we find a good performance that allows us to progress.’

The Cowley’s, of course, possess a strong non-league background.

Their Lincoln side reached the FA Cup quarter-finals in 2016-17 as a National League team, where they lost to Arsenal.

The Blues’ head coach added: ‘We have a lot of boys who have come through non-league, while Nicky and I have been fortunate enough to manage in the top-nine divisions.

‘We know how many good players there are at this level. I go back to my Concord team, who would have played in the equivalent division to Hereford and there’s Alex Woodyard, Lyle Taylor and Ryan Tafazolli to name a few.

‘At Pompey we have a number who came through non-league – Sean Raggett, Josh Koroma, Colby Bishop, Jay Mingi, while Joe Morrell started at Bristol City and had a loan spell at Margate.

‘So we have a number of players in our group who understand the level, understand how many good players are at that level – and understand how tough this challenge is.’